Oma, London

A little birthday treat for my partner, we booked in for lunch at OMA. This was before it picked up its Michelin star, but even then it wasn’t easy to get a table which is always a good sign.

On the waitress’s recommendation we started with a selection of breads and dips, which turned out to be a very good decision. The ajvar and baba ganoush were both excellent, full of flavour, properly smoky and perfect with the warm acme verde bread. It was one of those starts where you realise you could quite happily just keep eating this and not move on. At that point, I did start to worry we’d overdone it before the mains had even arrived.

The spanakopita gratin was the dish that had drawn me in, and it didn’t disappoint. Rich, comforting and exactly what you want it to be, though more bread was involved, which felt ambitious given where we already were.

Then the larger plates arrived. The octopus was beautifully tender, with good olive oil and spring onion dressing.

But the standout, by far, was the oxtail giouvetsi. I’d never had giouvetsi before, or really cooked much with orzo, so this was a revelation. There must have been a generous amount of fat or butter involved, because it tasted incredible. I went home slightly obsessed and spent the next couple of months trying to recreate it. I’ve got close with my lamb giouvetsi, but not quite there.

By this point I was completely full, but my partner, predictably, ordered dessert. A chocolate mousse with pistachio in two forms, which was light enough to justify and very good.

It was a really memorable meal. Next on the list is Agora downstairs, if I can bring myself to face the queue.